Archive for the ‘Funding’ Category

At the end of June, a federal judge blocked a Kentucky proposal to impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients. US District Judge James Boasberg did not mince words in overturning the Trump Administration’s decision to approve Kentucky’s waiver, saying it “… never adequately considered whether [the policy] would in fact help the state furnish medical assistance to its citizens, a central objective of Medicaid. This signal omission renders [the] determination arbitrary and capricious.”

Ohio’s waiver request would require “able-bodied” adults receiving Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act eligibility expansion to work or volunteer for a minimum of 20 hours a week. The legal status of Ohio’s waiver will likely remain in limbo while Kentucky’s works its way through the courts.

Even if Kentucky’s work requirements ultimately survive, Ohio might face its own costly legal battles. Ohio’s waiver exempts residents of certain counties, based on unemployment rates. The population of these mostly rural exempted counties is 95% white, while many non-exempt cities within more urban counties face similarly high unemployment rates. This means that work rules will be disproportionately applied to majority black or non-white communities.

There is no evidence that Ohio’s waiver request would improve access to medical care or health outcomes. What it would do is add burdensome regulatory hoops for low-income people of color, exacerbating the already stressful and time-consuming nature of life in poverty. Ohio residents should contact Governor John Kasich and tell him to rescind employment requirements for Medicaid recipients.

Making matters worse, the Violence Against Women Act, which directs the national response to crimes of domestic violence (grants for law enforcement training, victim services, National Domestic Violence Hotline) will expire at the end of September if lawmakers do not reauthorize it. The 2018 bill provides law enforcement with additional tools to remove firearms from domestic abusers, which is vital to impact this ongoing issue. If the bill is not passed, it will increase the current risks and danger to women across the US.

Federal laws state that if a domestic violence survivor has a permanent restraining order against their abuser that the abuser can’t own or buy a gun. However, this restriction is not enforced well on a state level, leaving women at risk to their abusers. Although there is immense pushback from the NRA (National Rifle Association) and private gun show organizers against any further restrictions or enforcement of existing federal gun laws limiting ownership for domestic abusers, it is clear that action must be taken now to limit access to firearms for domestic abusers. The government needs to make sure that federal laws are strictly enforced by the states and that the state police departments are properly prepared while also providing the support to domestic violence groups and resources so that domestic violence victims can receive the support they need.

Puerto Rico (PR), still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017, faces another looming crisis— this time manmade. Almost half of the island’s population relies on Medicaid for healthcare. Yet, in the midst of a $72 billion debt crisis, funding for the crucial program is rapidly waning.

As a U.S. territory, PR faces different Medicaid funding regulations than those governing states, which receive federal funding based on per-capita income, covering 50-83% of their running costs. If subject to the same rules, about 82% of PR’s Medicaid expenses would be covered. However, the federal match rate for territories is fixed at 55% and further limited by mandatory funding caps. Thus, in practice, less than 20% of PR’s Medicaid expenditures are federally covered. Established by Congress in the late 1960’s, this differential funding chronically underfunds PR’s Medicaid program and deepens the territory’s financial strain.

In 2016, PR’s Medicaid expenditures exceeded $2.4 billion, of which the federal government covered only $335 million. Recent stopgap funding measures passed by Congress have helped keep PR’s vital safety-net afloat, yet are projected to run out next year, at which point the territory will be facing a $2+ billion budget shortfall. Referred to as the Medicaid Cliff, this could mean over a million Puerto Ricans losing coverage.

Aside from financially crippling Puerto Rico, continuing the current system is ultimately more costly for the U.S. government, since economic hardship drives migration from PR to states, where healthcare is more expensive. In fact, a recent analysis projected that changing PR’s Medicaid funding rules to match the states would save federal and state governments almost $24 billion over the next decade.

For a territory already struggling with an aging population, heavy burden of chronic disease, the new specter of the Zika virus, and infrastructure still crippled by the effects of Hurricane Maria, the impending Medicaid cliff is nothing short of a disaster. As a matter of justice, compassion, and economic necessity, the U.S. Congress must pass legislation to increase federal funding for PR’s Medicaid program to a level commensurate with funding of the 50 U.S. states.

In Maryland, all youth, regardless of gender identity or sexuality, deserve the right live healthy lives and thrive in school. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, this can be difficult.

Research shows that this population is disproportionality at risk of experiencing dating violence and contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The CDC furthers this by stating that in 2015, 81% of the youth ages 13-24 who were diagnosed with HIV were gay or bisexual men.

Additionally, a survey on school climate conducted in 2015 found that Maryland public schools are not safe for most LGBTQ students, with 61% of LGBTQ students reporting that they were verbally harassed because of their sexual identity and 45% because of their gender expression. Furthermore, only 1 in 4 students reported being taught positive information about LGBTQ people in school. A hostile school environment can lead to mental health issues for LBGTQ youth, higher absentee and drop-out rates, and even suicide.

Providing LGBTQ-inclusive sex education to middle and high school students is a vital component in empowering this population to thrive.

With an inclusive curriculum, students obtain medically accurate and age-appropriate information on sexual health that integrates LGBTQ needs. LGBTQ youth learn about health risk behaviors that impact them and how to protect themselves against STIs. Equally important, all students are given the opportunity to explore topics related to sexuality and gender identity in a setting that positively depicts LBGTQ individuals. This helps dispel stigmas and negative stereotypes frequently tied to the LGBTQ community and builds a more welcoming and inclusive school environment.

Four states and Washington D.C. have passed legislation that mandates public schools provide sex education that respects and addresses the needs of all genders and sexual orientations.

It’s time for Maryland to follow suit and create similar legislation mandating inclusive sex education. In addition, funds should be allocated for the development of supporting materials, resources, and training for educators and school administrators. Research should be conducted alongside these changes to evaluate the impact LGBTQ inclusive-sex education has onSTI/HIV infection rates and bullying in Maryland schools. With these actions, we can help bridge the gap to providing LGBTQ youth with an equal opportunity to live healthy and successful lives.

The State must share the costs and risks. The larger the insurance pool, the greater the spread. Therefore, Maryland should expand its state employee health insurance pool as a means to lower employee benefit costs for public employers.

In fact, statutes already exist in the Maryland Code enabling consortium health insurance purchasing for county, local government, and select non-profit employees who opt into the state pool. However, this legislation has not been maximally leveraged to reduce healthcare costs since few entities have joined in. Furthermore, Maryland’s 100,000 public-school employees are currently in their own independent plans negotiated by the teachers’ unions. Legislation to include them as part of the state-wide insurance pool should be a priority.

By amending the law to include all 501(c)(3) non-profits, Maryland can take advantage of the its unique non-profit landscape. Over 260,000 Marylanders are employed by non-profits representing 11% of the state’s workforce. Of the 32,000 registered Maryland non-profits, half are estimated to employ 50 full-time staff or less. Because of their limited beneficiaries, these non-profits could benefit the most from opting into the state pool.

Maryland should expand its state employee health insurance pool as a means to lower employee benefit costs for public employers. To this end, stakeholders should adopt the following recommendations:

The General Assembly should amend Maryland Code to include all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations

County and local governments should take advantage of existing statutes allowing consortium health insurance purchasing by the State

With enabling legislation, Maryland public school employees should opt into the State employee insurance pool

Over 500,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2017, so for every 10,000 people, 17 were experiencing homelessness.

The best way to end homelessness is to prevent it.

Eviction is a leading cause of homelessness. Every year, 2.5 million people in the United States face eviction. Preventing these people from being evicted will help prevent homelessness. The main cause of eviction is nonpayment of the rent, and low-income families are mostly affected by it. Over half of poor renting families spend at least 50 percent of their income on housing; a quarter of them spend over 70 percent of their income on housing. This results in many of them being behind on their rent or not being able to consistently afford to pay the rent; leading to their eviction.

Eviction Prevention Programs are programs funded by the federal government to provide housing and rent assistance to tenants with low/moderate income facing imminent eviction. They assist those who are behind on their rent and help with unpaid water bills, legal conflicts and other problems. Unfortunately, there is only a fraction of people who can be assisted because of the high demand and limited funds. Therefore, for these programs to have more impact and assist a larger number of people, it is critical for the government to expand funds allocated to them.

The national Housing Trust Fund (HTF), established under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, is a new housing resource that focuses on building, rehabilitating, preserving, and operating rental housing for low-income people. $174 million in HTF dollars were allocated to states in 2016 and $219 million in 2017. Although it is a step forward, far more resources are needed.

The Master Settlement Agreement of 1999 imposed major restrictions on tobacco industries, proved to be a victory for public health workers in the United States and their efforts in tackling the tobacco epidemic.

However, the rise of the use of electronic cigarettes prove to be yet another strategy with tobacco companies in promoting tobacco use. The NIH defines electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, as battery operated devices that contain aerosol flavorings and other chemicals that mixes with health, producing a vapor.

Due to its’ lack of long term consequences and it’s gateway to adult smoking, I support the bill for increasing tobacco sales from 18 to 21 years old in Washington state.

According to Washington21, 17, 800 Washington kids try smoking for the first time each year, 3, 900 kids become daily smokers with a third of them dying prematurely. The marketing of flavors for electronic cigarettes makes this product more appealing, with majority of teens not knowing exactly what is even in these e-cigs which makes e-cigs all the more dangerous in this population. The IOM Report in 2013 reported that there would be a 25% reduction in 15-17 year olds smoking tobacco and a 10% decrease in smoking related deaths if the age was raised to 21.

Like the effects of increasing the drinking age to 21, I believe that we would see similar effects when raising the age of 21 in purchasing tobacco in Washington, including e-cigs. By supporting the Washington21 campaign we are able to prevent further use of tobacco products among teens and also reduce health related tobacco issues such as cardiovascular/lung diseases, and cancer Participating in advocacy campaigns will also help with providing advocacy tools that can be used at your own state to enact policies to save lives.

On March 8, 2018, Washington house has passed SB 6048 raising the age to buy tobacco products to 21.Given this victory, it is promising that Washington state’s bill will hopefully pass the Washington senate! To support this cause and to protect the health of the youth, contact your district legislator and vote for Tobacco 21!

Teen pregnancy has a profound impact at multiple levels, including negative impacts to the physical and mental health of both the mother and child and worsened economic outcomes related to decreased maternal education and lost tax revenue. Although overall rates of teen pregnancy continue to decrease nationwide, the rate in Baltimore continues to be elevated above the national average. This is indicative of the social and environmental factors that differentiate it from the rest of Maryland and the rest of the United States and the clear need for continued intervention. The Baltimore City Health Department has made maternal child health and teen pregnancy a key target of intervention.

Title X is the only federal grant that provides funding for family planning health services. This funding is essential for low-income and high risk patients to receive family planning resource and is a single but critical program to combat teen pregnancy. Title X does not fund for abortion services, but rather, provides contraceptive services, education, STI screenings, and healthcare resources for pregnancy. Because it is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, programs like this are always at risk of being de-funded or underfunded depending on the goals of the presidential administration. Currently, there has been significant resistance to the $300 million in funding that is provided by the HHS and efforts have been in place to decrease the funding. As this is the sole federal source of funding, continued advocacy is needed to ensure that Title X programs continue to be funded. Without it, low-income and high risk teens are deprived of resources that are necessary for their continued well-being.

The Clean Power Plan enacted in 2015 aimed to reduce greenhouse emissions from the energy sector, which account for almost 40% of the U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, necessary to halt the predicted destructive impact climate change will have globally. In March 2017, President Trump signed the Executive Order for Energy Independence, which sent the policy for review by the EPA to either withdraw or rewrite the plan, a lengthy process which will halt the policy’s regulation of power plant emissions.

The Clean Power Plan and all other actions to reduce climate change are necessary for all countries and individuals globally. Coastal cities, such as Miami, are already dealing with flooding due to the sea level increasing.

Individually, people should care for their health. Energy production from coal leads to air pollution and climate change creating or worsening respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and lung cancer, as well as increasing the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. The length of allergy seasons has already increased, for example the ragweed season is 21 days longer than in 1995.

Minnesota itself has not hit the emission targets set to reduce the impact of climate change, while the rest of the country has variable progressions. In Minnesota, we need to be advocates for our health and wellbeing, and to do so, we must encourage others to support the Clean Power Plan and other efforts to combat climate change and turn our focus and investment to more efficient or cleaner forms of energy.

The teen pregnancy rate in Baltimore is 2-3 times the national average, with rates reaching upwards of 64 pregnant teens for every 1,000 female adolescents in 2009. According to the Center for Disease Control, teen pregnancy costs taxpayers $10 billion annually in health care and foster care costs. On the personal level, unplanned pregnancies significantly reduce life opportunities for teen moms, with the CDC finding that only 50% of teen moms graduating from high school by age 22. This lack of education causes a ripple effect, and teen moms have more chronic health problems and higher rates of incarceration.

Teen pregnancy in Baltimore has seen a steady decline over the last decade, joining a national downward trend. This comes in no small part to programs such as the Health and Human Services’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP). With funding from the TPPP, 80 city health departments have been empowered to create science-based prevention programs for teens to understand contraception and sexuality.

Unfortunately, the TPPP was abruptly defunded last week. The Trump administration offered little explanation, leaving pro-abstinence groups such as The Abstinence and Marriage Education Partnership to justify such cuts with claims that abstinence is correlated to lower rates of teen drug abuse.

Here in Maryland, the Baltimore City Health Department expressed frustration at losing $3.5 million out of the $214 milling being cut. Health Commissioner Leana Wen called the cuts “shocking.” The Health Department has joined the Big Cities Health Coalition, comprised of the 80 beneficiary cities of TPPP funds, in decrying the budget cuts. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics has joined the plea, adding a link to its website for pediatricians to contact their congressmen in protest.